Emergent Research

EMERGENT RESEARCH is focused on better understanding the small business sector of the US and global economy.

Authors

The authors are Steve King and Carolyn Ockels. Steve and Carolyn are partners at Emergent Research and Senior Fellows at the Society for New Communications Research. Carolyn is leading the coworking study and Steve is a member of the project team.

Videos

Disclosure Policy

Emergent Research works with corporate, government and non-profit clients. When we reference organizations that have provided us funding in the last year we will note it.
If we mention a product or service that we received for free or other considerations, we will note it.

The strong economy is also allowing reluctant independent workers - those that would prefer a traditional job- to go back to traditional jobs.

Reluctants, on average, report feeling independent work is much less secure than traditional employment. So as they leave independent work, it raises the share of independents who feel more secure working independently.

The growing infrastructure of products and services that make being an independent easier is also making independent work more secure.

These include low-cost, Internet-based tools and services for everything from billing and project management to marketing and sales. It also includes things like the ACA (Obamacare), which makes it easier for independents to get health insurance.

But being independent is still not secure enough, especially for those without in-demand skills. We'll have more on this topic in the near future.

We contribute to the MBO Partners State of Independence report series.